"Happy birthday to youuuuuuu," everyone at Danny's kitchen table sang as Tucker pushed the cupcake cake closer to Sam, a look of disgust on his face as he touched the tofu pastry with black icing and 18 candles on it.

Sam waved a hand over the candle. The flames flew up, swirling around her fingers before being absorbed into her skin. Everyone cheered while Sam took the candle out, biting half of the cupcake in one bite, a grin on her face. "And now for the not-vegetarian cake," Danny's mom said, grabbing a cake from the counter, much to Tucker's relief.

"Oh, come on, Tucker, you're worse than the lunch lady," Sam snarked. "I wonder if you two are related."

"Don't even joke about that," Tucker said, looking aghast

"You know Sam might be right. Didn't you say the Lunch Lady looked like your grandma," Danny asked, teasing Tucker more. The techno-geek looked horrified.

"Nuh uh nope no way. Is there a chance anywhere in the multiverse I'm related to Box Lunch," Tucker said, waving his arms out in front of him.

"Whose Box lunch," Penny asked innocently, making Team Phantom flinch

Sam and Tucker looked at Danny silently, asking Danny to shake his head

He'd tell Penny that later today was supposed to be a party

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, didn't you mention something about getting a college named after you," Sam asked, changing the subject

"THAT'S RIGHT," Danny's dad cheered happily. "The city council and the college board, in honor of Danny's boys super heroics, have decided to rename the college from Hecht University to Fenton University," Dad boasted, clapping. Danny is on the back.

After his mom hugged Danny and Penny, "Danny and Penny are going to go there next year," she cheered excitedly.

Danny smiled, looking at his girlfriend, who smiled back.

"What about you two? Are you guys staying local for college? Keep the whole team together," Dani asked, petting her cat, Maggie.

Yeah, it's not the original name change, but the only thing the walking furball would listen to wasn't Maddie.

"I've got Stark internship, but that's only in the summer. The rest of the year, I'm going to be at Empire State University," Tucker said with a grin. "What about you, Sam."

"I'm deferring to backpack through Asia for a year and see Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan."

"Your travel plans sound like the lyrics to a song," Danny quipped

"Then I'm going to study environmental sciences at Gimmelsthump University in Drusselstein," Sam continued after rolling her eyes at Danny's quip. "Mom and Dad aren't happy saying college is pointless since we already have money to live off of. Nana said that just because you don't contribute to society doesn't mean spreading the laziness to me."

"The more I hear about your parents, the more I wonder if your dad is adopted," Dad said before getting an elbow from Mom. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah, you did, Mr. Fenton, and no offense taken," Sam said, pulling out her phone when it buzzed. "Speaking of which, I've got to suffer through a birthday dinner with them."

"Fifty bucks. They try to put her in a pink dress," Danny whispered to Penny

"No bet," Penny whispered back

"I heard that too," Sam said when she left out the door. "Bye"

"Later, Sam"

The next day, Danny woke up to his phone buzzing over and over again, groaning. Danny pulled his arm out from under the covers. "Someone had better be hurt dead or on fire," Danny grumbled sleepily. The box ghost had unleashed all the animals at the zoo. To try and destroy him

It'd taken three hours after stuffing him into a thermos to get every animal back to their enclosure

"THERE'S A WARRANT OUT FOR SAMS ARREST!" Tucker yelled through the speaker when he answered

"WHAT?" Danny shouted, leaping up out of bed. "That's crazy."

"It's all over the news. According to this, Sam used her 'mutant' powers to assault some guy named Dominic Loadman at the birthday party her parents made her go to. He's apparently in the hospital."

"Okay, calm down. Let's call Sam. We'll get her side of the story and figure out what really happened."

"I've tried, but she's not answering. I've tried calling Henry Buzz and Luke, but they're not picking up either."

Okay, that was a little concerning, but Danny knew Sam wouldn't put some guy in the hospital.

"I'm going to her house. Maybe I can get some answers from her parents," Danny said, going ghost and flying towards Sam's house. Walking up the steps, he frowned when he saw anti-mutant slurs graffitied over the door.

Danny didn't even get the chance to knock before the door was thrown open, and Sam's parents looked at him furiously

"Mister and Mrs. Manson, I came looking for Sam. Is she here?"

"Why hoping to finish the job you started ruining our daughter's life," Mrs. Manson sneered at him. If looks could kill, Danny would be a full ghost right now

"What do you mean ruin Sam's life? I came to help her."

"You're the reason Sammantha is in this mess with the law. It's your revenge after she RIGHTFULLY rejected you," Mr. Manson shouted. "You couldn't let Sam be happy you had to hurt Reginald Loadman's boy and pin your heinous crime on Sam."

Danny blinked. What the heck were they talking about

"I have a girlfriend. I didn't do anything to this Loadman guy heck before this morning. I had no idea he existed," Danny shouted. "Also, even IF I did have feelings for Sam and she turned me down, I wouldn't attack someone else."

"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!" Danny heard Sam's grandma Ida shout, "Jeremy Pamela, stop harassing the poor boy and let him in."

"But mother, this is all his fault," Mr. Manson argued

"Danny would never do such a thing to Sam," Grandma Ida said, having come to the door. "I've known Danny since he was as tall as my knee. He doesn't have it in him to be this cruel," she said

Finally, an adult with common sense

"Come in, Danny," Grandma Ida said sweetly. Danny nodded, stepping inside from his peripheral vision. Danny noticed Sam's mom about to say something.

"Remember whose name is on the deed for this house and all the bank accounts before you open your trap, Pamela," Grandma Ida warned her daughter-in-law coldly.

Grandma Ida led Danny into the kitchen, shaking her head and touching her temples. "Oh, this is a mess."

"Can you tell me what exactly happened when I last saw Sam? She was coming to some fancy birthday dinner her parents set up, and now she's called a fugitive."

"I told them it was a stupid idea. I told them it was beyond idiotic, a waste of time, and I wanted nothing to do with it," Grandma Ida explained. "You probably heard last night that Sam's parents aren't too happy that she plans to attend college."

"Yeah, I heard," Danny agreed. "What else happened."

"You know Sammy had a crush on you back in your freshman year, right," Grandma Ida asked. Danny nodded. Yeah, he knew that he had a crush in the back of his head for Sam, too.

But then he met Penny, and his crush on Sam died.

"Well, Sam's parents got it into their heads that you confessed your feelings, and she rejected you, thinking that she didn't see you as were only good enough to be a friend but not a boyfriend, so to 'help' her, they put together a party to help Sam find a boyfriend someone Sam would forget her plans for and settle down with."

Danny could see it now: Sam was alone in a room with many snobby rich kids who thought they could get her to date or marry them.

"I'm guessing this Donovan guy was one of them."

"He could have been. I went to my house in Lake Eerie for the night; I didn't want to see their plans crash and burn. I drove home when I saw on the news that the police were looking for Sam," Grandma Ida explained.

"Do you know which hospital this guy should stay in?" Danny asked Grandma. Ida shook her head.

"The news didn't say. All they said was he was receiving treatment in the hospital."

Danny frowned. That was weird. Shouldn't the news have mentioned where he was getting treatment if it was so serious?

Something wasn't right about this.

"Thanks, Mrs. Manson," Danny said

"Danny, you're practically 18. Call me Ida."

"You've been telling me to call you Ida since I was 5," Danny quipped

"And you still aren't doing it. Aren't you superhero types supposed to listen to your elders?" she quipped back. Danny left through the back door, not wanting to run into the other two Mansons. Pulling out his phone, he called Tucker.

"Tuck, it's me. Can you hack into all the hospitals in the city to find where this Loadman guy's staying," Danny asked.

"Dude gives me a challenge," Tucker answered. Danny heard the sound of a keyboard clicking. "Done. He's at Amity General, room 394, under police protection."

Danny thanked Tucker and flew off towards Amity General. When he got there, there were police cars in the parking lot. Danny turned invisible, slipping past the cops outside the door. Danny phased into the room, finding a guy with his face and head completely bandaged in the hospital bed.

In a chair, there was an older man, probably his dad. "It's going to be all right, Donovan, everything's going to be all right," he whispered sadly, holding his son's hand before he left the room.

Once Danny was alone with Donovan, Danny turned visible. "Donovan Loadman, we need to talk." Donovan jumped out of bed when he saw Danny

Literally

He threw a pillow at Danny, hitting him in the face, and then broke off into a run, bolting out of the room. Danny was so stupefied that it happened that it took him a second to break into a run, following after the guy

For someone who was supposed to be in critical condition, he sure could run fast for an ordinary guy without powers.

But Danny was different from all the other guys using his powers. He quickly caught up to 'Donovan and pinned him against a wall.

"What's going on here?" Donovan's dad demanded, furious, flanked by two officers

"That's what I'd like to find out," Danny said, ripping off the bandages to show an ordinary undamaged face. "You don't look hurt to me, Donovan," Danny said, looking angry.

"That's not Donovan," Donovan's dad said. "What's going on here? Where exactly is my son?"

"That's what we'd like to know too," the police said, looking upset but not as upset as Danny.

"Talk," Danny said sternly. The guy nodded

"I'm an actor. Mr. Loadman hired me for a job. All I had to do was lay in a bed and pretend to be wounded. I figured it was some online prank or something," the actor explained quickly.

"A prank. It's not a prank that my friend is being wanted for something she didn't do." Danny's eyes glowed green. He'd used his ghost powers to get payback on Dash, but he never went this far as framing Dash for a crime. He didn't commit.

It sounded like something Vlad would have done.

"I would like to know where exactly my son is," Mr. Loadman said, looking furious, "because I'm appalled and horrified with his actions."

"We'd like to know, too," the officers said

"I don't know. He contacts me through texts. I never actually met the guy in person," the actor said

Danny took his phone, handing the actor to the police while he called Tucker. "You wanted a challenge, Tuck. I want you to trace the number of the baby fruitloop who framed Sam," he growled angrily.

"With pleasure," Tucker said angrily. In under a minute, Tucker had an address to a luxury hotel in Polterheights. He was checked in under the name Richard Rich.

"Mr. Fenton," Mr. Loadman said, looking very upset, "I want to apologize for what my son has done to your friend."

Danny felt bad for the guy. He looked genuinely upset, thinking his kid was in the hospital, all to find out it was faked. "Apology accepted. Could you get the charges dropped against my friend wherever she is?"

"Of course," Mr. Loadman said. "I'll also inform the media of the truth of this matter."

Danny nodded appreciatively before he went hunting for a rich creep

It was pretty easy to find Donovan Loadman. After that, the guy lounged in a hot tub on his balcony when Danny landed. He screamed like a little girl trying to run but fell out of his hot tub, landing pathetically face-first on the balcony.

"Don't hurt me, please don't hurt me. I've got money to pay you with," Donovan whined, begging on his knees. "I'll pay you double to hurt someone else like this girl who dared to reject me last night, Samantha Manson," Donovan said

Danny intentionally made his glow green with fury, making Donovan scream, backing up against a wall. "You did all of this. You faked being in the hospital and framed my best friend because she rejected you."

"She should be thankful I even attended her birthday party. Her family has only been wealthy for a few generations. My family's wealth goes back hundreds of years, but she's attractive, so I was willing to marry her despite the embarrassment of her being descended from peasants. All I had to do was get her to listen to reason."

Danny snarled, not liking the sound of that grabbing the lying little toad by the neck and holding him against the wall. "What do you mean to get her to listen?"

Donovan looked ready to pee himself. "She turned down MY proposal to me, a member of the Loadman family, and tried to walk away from me. I grabbed her to make her change her mind," Donovan choked out. "I wouldn't have done anything permanent, but she dares to hit me in the face."

Danny took off his hand still around Donovan's throat, the only thing keeping him in the air as the spoiled little toad peed himself, staining his expensive swimsuit yellow.

"Listen to me VERY carefully. The cops are already on their way, and you'll plead guilty to everyone who asks IF you get out of prison. If you even look at someone the wrong way, I'll find out, and it'll be the last thing you EVER DO," Danny promised.

"I promise, I promise, please just let me live," he begged, crying hysterically and screaming at the top of his lungs. Danny was very tempted just to drop him. Danny lowered himself story by story, dropping the spoiled little toad at the feet of the police, who had just pulled up. Danny watched Toadman be put in the back of the car before he flew off.

It'd been a long day, and he still had no idea where Sam was. The plan is to go to Fenton Works, get everyone, and find Sam, Dani, his parents, Tucker, and Sam.

Wait, hold on, Sam.

There she was, sitting on his porch. "Hey," she greeted.

"Sam, where have you been? No one's seen you all day."

"After my parent's party, Nana sent a car for me. I stayed with her at Lake Eerie, then, when I saw the news, she left, saying she'd fix everything. Dani grabbed me when the news said the police no longer wanted me," Sam explained.

Danny nodded, sitting down next to her. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I am thanks to you, Danny," Sam said.

"Hey, if it weren't for you, Sam, I'd either be dragon food or got wasted by Vlad in Colorado. We're even," Danny said before yawning.

"Go get some sleep, Danny. I can make it home on my own," Sam said, giving him a brief hug before heading home. Danny headed inside.

Unaware of Sharktapus, the Nighlock watched them both through a small portal with eyes full of hate before it closed.